An act for "enrolling and calling out the National Forces" was signed into law on
March 3, 1863, by President Abraham Lincoln. This, the first effective draft by
the federal government, called for all men between the ages of 18 and 45 to be enrolled into local
militia units and be available to be called into national service. The draft
law exempted men in some occupations, such as telegraph operators, railroad engineers,
judges, and certain other government employees. Men with mental disabilities
or with certain types of dependents were also exempted. Physical
disabilities that would exempt a man included imperfect vision in the right eye, lack
of front teeth and molars, and loss of more than one finger of the right hand
or more than two fingers of the left hand.

The actual drafting of the men was the responsibility of the states, which
usually used lottery system. When the government issued a call for more
troops, each state would be given a quota to fill based on its
population. The number of volunteers would be subtracted from the
quota and the difference would be drafted. If draftee, volunteered before the final muster, he
avoided the stigma of compulsory service and was
eligible to collect a bounty of $100 from the federal government plus
additional bounties from the state and local communities. In total,
the bounties could exceed $500, which was about the average yearly wage in those days.
States considered it a matter of pride to fill their quotas without having to
resort to the draft.

John S.Staples

A draftee could gain an exemption by paying a fee of $300 or by hiring a substitute. The
obvious inequity of this provision prompted the cry of "rich
man's war, but poor man's fight." The bounty system also made
possible the enrichment of a large number of unscrupulous persons called "bounty jumpers." These
men would enlist to collect their bounty, then desert and enlist somewhere else
and collect another bounty.

President and Commander-in-Chief, Abraham Lincoln was too old for the draft, but he hired a substitute for himself anyhow, probably to set a good example. John Summerfield Staples, an
otherwise unremarkable young man from Stroudsburg, PA, became the President's "representative recruit". He was
enlisted in the 176th Pennsylvania Volunteers, survived the war, and is buried in Stroudsburg Cemetery, under a regulation
GI headstone.